MAKHACHKALA, Russia: A suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car at a police station in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus on Wednesday, killing at least six officers and wounding 16, police said.

The bombing occurred at the traffic police station on the outskirts of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, just as officers were lining up outside for roll call.

City police chief Shamil Guseinov said the bomber detonated the explosives at the gates to the station after police stopped him from driving through. All those killed were at the gates, he said.

Their actions in stopping the car prevented much wider devastation, he said.

A similar bombing in a neighboring republic in August that killed 24 people and injured more than 200. In that attack, a man succeeded in crashing a bomb-laden van through the gates of the police station in Nazran, Ingushetia. The explosion left a bus-sized crater in what was left of the station.

LAKKI MARWAT, Pakistan News: At least 40 people have been killed and another 80 wounded in a suicide attack here Friday evening.

According to preliminary reports, a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the outer wall of a playground in Shah Hassan Khail area when scores of people were gathered there to watch a volleyball match between two local teams.

At least 27 deaths have so far been confirmed in the attack while more than 80 injured have been rushed to District Hospital and other nearby medical facilities.

Police, other law enforcement agencies’ personnel and paramedics arrived at the scene soon after the attack and carried out emergency relief activities. The area has been cordoned off, it was reported.

Police said Friday’s bombing in Lakki Marwat city, not far from South Waziristan, was possible retaliation for local residents’ efforts to keep militants out of the area.

“The locality has been a hub of militants. Locals set up a militia and expelled the militants from this area. This attack seems to be reaction to their expulsion,” local police chief Ayub Khan told reporters.

He said the bomber drove onto the field, which lies in a congested neighborhood, during the volleyball contest. Some nearby houses collapsed, and “we fear that some 10 or so people might have been trapped in the rubble,” Khan said.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan News:Three person including a constable were killed while several people including the Chief Accountant of the Club injured when a suicide bomber struck outside Peshawar Club.
The suicide bomber tried to enter the Press Club, however, the constable stopped him outside the building where the suicide bomber detonated his explosives.
Police and security enforcement agencies threw cordon around the area immediately after the blast , while the rescue activities are underway.
Both legs of the suicide bomber were found.
The injured are being shifted to Lady Reading hospital, out of whom many are stated to be in a critical condition. A large number of journalists were present in the Press Club on the time of blast.
Meanwhile, the NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain condemned the tragic incident, saying that the attack on the journalist is equal to attack on the nation.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has started hearing petitions related to the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

A 17-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry conducting hearing. The former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmad is also present in the court.

The 17-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry includes Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Rahmat Husain Jafferi, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.

The hearing related to petitions filed by Dr Mubashar Hassan and Roedad Khan in the Supreme Court in which they have challenged the controversial ordinance, calling it contrary to the Constitution and fundamental rights.

The Chief Justice has appointed three amicus curiae to assist the court on the issue, including Shaiq Usmani, former judge of the Sindh High Court, Mian Allah Nawaz, advocate Supreme Court and former chief justice of Lahore High Court and M Sardar Khan, former attorney general for Pakistan.

These advocates had also been appointed as amicus curiae in October 2007 to assist the Supreme Court on the NRO issue.

The apex court has issued notices to the Attorney General of Pakistan, the petitioners and the respondents for the above date of hearing.

The court will also be hearing review petitions of Asfandyar Wali Khan and Anwar Saifullah Khan along with the petitions filed by Dr Mubashar Hassan and Roedad Khan. Meanwhile, some convicts/prisoners who have also prayed for benefit under the NRO have also been issued notices through the concerned superintendents of the jails.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan News: At least two persons were killed and eight others were injured in blast at Jail Road of Peshawar near sessions court premises.

According to reports the explosion might be a car bomb blast. The clouds of smoke seen rising from the place of the blast.

The relief and rescue teams have reached to the spot of bombing in central area of Peshawar.

According to an eyewitness a bomber detonated his explosives near the court. At least three cars were destroyed in the blast.

The bomber wanted to enter in the court building, the witness said.

KABUL: A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle killed 13 people, including a police officer, and wounded 30 others Friday in a busy city square in western Afghanistan.

Several children were among those wounded in the morning explosion, said a doctor at the hospital in Farah city.

Afghan police shouted “Stop! Stop!” at the motorcyclist before he detonated the explosives, provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Faqir Askar said.

Provincial governor Rohul Amin said the deadly blast occurred about 50 meters (55 yards) from his compound in a crowded square in the city of Farah.

Also on Friday, three civilians were wounded in a roadside bomb in Khost province, according to Wazir Pacha, deputy police chief of Khost.

PESHAWAR: A suicide car bomb tore through a market in Kohat, killing up to 30 people and gutting shops on Friday as families stocked up on supplies for a major religious festival.
The explosion destroyed vehicles and shops near a bus stop in Ustarzai, a small mountain town in the northwest which lies between the garrison city of Kohat and Hangu, police said.

The area was packed with shoppers buying food and delicacies for the weekend and the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, which is expected to start on Monday with the sighting of the new moon after the fasting month of Ramazan.

“A suicide bomber blew up a car filled with explosives in the market. Ten people were killed and many wounded,” said Ali Hasan, a local police officer on the ground in Ustazai.

Police spokesman Fazal Naeem in nearby Kohat said: “We have recovered dozens of dead bodies. Many people were wounded. The suicide bomber was sitting in a car.”

Police said the attack occurred near a bus stop where passenger buses and coaches arrive and depart from other towns across northwest Pakistan.

Police said the explosion caused heavy damage and officers were frantically organising efforts to rescue the dead and wounded.

North West Frontier Province (NWFP) police spokesman Riaz Ahmad said one report attributed the blast to a suicide bomber who blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in the bazaar, but there was no final confirmation.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the “cowardly act of terrorism” and expressed grief over the loss of life, his office said in a statement.

Gilani “expressed the government’s determination to stamp out the menace of terrorism and militancy from the country,” it said.

BAGHDAD: Iraqi police say at least five people have been killed and 20 others wounded in a car bombing in a mainly Sunni area northwest of Baghdad.

A police officer says the explosives-laden car was parked near sidewalk vendors at an outdoor market in Haditha. The officer gave the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

Sunday’s attack is the latest in a series of blasts that have raised concerns about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the population as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2011.

Haditha is in Anbar province, which was one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq until Sunni tribal leaders joined forces with the U.S. military to fight al Qaeda in Iraq.